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“You have heard . . . but Scripture Says”

“Evangelicals who would catechize today need to properly identify the appropriate “vis-à-vis” for their own catechetical ministries. In other words, when we say, in effect, “You have heard that it was said … but the Scriptures say to you” we need to be clear about the influences that have been speaking into the lives of our congregants. Catechesis must always be attentive to the counter-catechesis at work in our lives. Earlier we dealt with the causes and consequences of the uncatechized church. In reality, however, all our members actually have been catechized—thoroughly so—in competing worldviews.

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As we suggested in the previous chapter, catechesis typically has a built-in contrast: “You have heard that it was said … but I say to you.” That is, in order to more clearly illustrate the truth of the Gospel we need to highlight p 192 the counterclaims of the competing cultures. In every age and culture there are false -isms—beliefs and worldviews that fly in the face of God’s revelation in Christ. Examples in our own age might include such -isms as materialism, godless humanism, religious pluralism, and so on. In faithful and fruitful ministries of preaching, teaching, counseling, and liturgy as well as through the hymns and songs we sing, we must identify and challenge these with the potent, liberating, universal, and unchanged truth of God’s Word.”